Free Republic

With violent pro-Hamas protests erupting on our nation’s campuses, millions of illegal aliens swarming across the southern border, and a mentally declining president who seems like he can barely get through a sentence—much less run the most powerful nation on earth—it can seem like all the news is bad these days. The tale of Derek Floyd, the FDNY firefighter who died of a heart attack after being fired because New York City needed money for illegal aliens, leaving his family with nothing because he was just short of becoming eligible for benefits, certainly fits into the “tragic” category. RedState’s Nick...

Massachusetts Democrat Gov. Maura Healey signed the state budget, which provides an additional $426 million for housing illegals even as the state ranks as one of the worst for citizens fleeing. The Bay State is a sanctuary state with a “right to shelter” law that requires government to put homeless people into housing, at least for a period of time. The law has caused the state to spend hundreds of millions since President Joe Biden’s border crisis exploded: Governor Healy (D-MA) just signed a funding bill to provide up to $426 million to house illegals. Biden won Massachusetts by 33...

A Louisiana teacher sexted her students, bought them booze at local dives and had sex with "at least one" of them, local police said. In March, police launched an investigation over complaints that 35-year-old Alexa Wingerter was having "inappropriate relationships" with and "sending inappropriate photographs and messages" to her male students at Slidell High School. After the Slidell Police Department "conducted multiple interviews and executed several search warrants," Wingerter was charged with prohibited sexual conduct between an educator and student, as well as unlawful purchase of alcoholic beverages on behalf of a person under 21.

Americans want to know whether former President Donald Trump is a convict before they vote. But the Supreme Court, supposed to be our ultimate recourse for unbiased justice—apparently doesn't want us to have the answer. Recent oral arguments before the court on whether Trump is absolutely immune from federal and state criminal charges showcased its complicity in delaying Special Counsel Jack Smith's criminal prosecution of Trump for illegally trying to hold onto power after he lost the 2020 election. The Supreme Court's actions can effectively put Trump's trial off until after the 2024 election. This is egregious. It took the...

Eleven states could see abortion through all nine months of pregnancy enshrined in their state constitutions this November.Democrats and their abortion giant allies want to legalize killing unborn babies throughout all nine months of gestation in every state. A majority of U.S. adults reject that position, but that fact hasn’t stopped the ballot measure battle that plagued Ohio last year from infiltrating several other states, including those controlled by Republicans, during the 2024 election cycle. On the BallotFloridaFlorida voters will be asked come November 5 to weigh in on a state constitutional amendment declaring, “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay,...

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed a series of bills into law Wednesday, including the Georgia Criminal Alien Track and Report Act. Kemp signed the Georgia Criminal Alien Track and Report Act (House Bill 1105), which requires police and sheriff’s departments to identify illegal aliens who commit crimes and detain them for deportation by federal immigration authorities, according to a report by WXIA-TV. The legislation gained momentum after the death of 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley, who was killed while jogging on University of Georgia’s campus. Notably, the murder suspect in Riley’s case is 26-year-old Venezuelan native Jose Ibarra, who...

For Jews in America and around the world, Israel represents a thriving land of survival and opportunity, and not only for my people. Nowhere else in the Middle East are those of all races, religions, sexes and sexual orientations welcome to live in peace and prosperity. Now the dream is dying — thwarted by people who’d like nothing better than to see Israel wiped from the map. It’s a sad day across the United States and abroad as whiny, privileged college students and thrill-seeking provocateurs, egged on by leftist professors, the “mainstream” news media and numbskull politicians, foment pro-terrorist, anti-Jewish...

LONG BEACH, Calif. (CNS) -- A tuberculosis outbreak among residents of a single-room occupancy hotel in Long Beach has left one person dead and led to the hospitalizations of nine others, prompting the declaration of a public health emergency, city officials said Thursday. The city Department of Health and Human Services insists the risk of exposure to the general public is low, with the outbreak restricted to a "distinct population" of people with "significant barriers to care, including homelessness and housing insecurity, mental illness, substance abuse and serious medical comorbidities." As of April 29, a total of 14 cases have...

Paint splattered on floors. Spray-painted messages and screeds covering walls. Furniture moved and overturned. Security cameras disabled. Fire extinguishers missing and entrances blocked by stacks of chairs. “We’ve got our work cut out for us,” a facilities manager at Portland State University said Thursday as he examined the destruction left behind after a three-day occupation by pro-Palestinian protesters in Millar Library.

Activists in Missouri say their proposed amendment to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution has enough signatures to appear on the ballot. Missourians for Constitutional Freedom said on Friday that it collected 380,000 signatures — far past the 172,000 needed to qualify — and delivered the signatures to the Missouri Secretary of State for approval. The group needed to submit signatures by May 5. 📢 In just three months, 380k+ Missourians from every corner of our state have signed the petition to end the abortion ban! Today, we delivered those signatures to the Secretary of State. Help...

Reagan Gray, 26, is accused of sexually abusing a 15 year old boy and sending him naked photos 'on a daily basis' - the abuse started in the autumn of 2020 at Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock.A 26 year-old teacher has been accused of sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy and inundating him with explicit images. The accused, Reagan Gray, who was a volunteer at one of Arkansas' largest churches, claimed she limited their sexual activity to oral interactions so he could "stay pure".It is alleged that Gray, working from Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock, initiated the abuse in...

Actor Robert De Niro said Thursday on MSNBC’s “The 11th Hour” that former President Donald Trump’s rise was like that of Adolf Hitler’s in 1930s Germany. De Niro said, “He is sick, he is genuinely a sick person that somehow has been allowed into our system. I’m not calling him names, he just can’t be anywhere near the office of the presidency.” He continued, “I don’t understand it. I don’t I don’t think they understand how dangerous it will be if he ever, God forbid, becomes president. I don’t think they really understand. And historically, from what I see, even...

A morning rush is nothing new for a coffee shop, especially not Starbucks. However, the global coffee chain recently found that its struggle to keep up with demand is leading some customers to second-guess purchasing their morning coffee. Starbucks just announced its financial earnings for the second quarter of 2024. Overall, its leadership was upfront in saying that the second quarter of 2024 was not a successful one for the business as a whole. The chain’s U.S. same-store sales declined 3%, and sales outside of North America decreased 6%. “Let me be clear,” Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan said on the...

Economy, other factors have put pressure on consumers People seem to be buying less food from quick-service restaurants (QSR). That appears to be the case after companies such as Yum! Brands, Starbucks and McDonald’s offered their latest quarterly updates on their businesses. In the first quarter, the corporate parent of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut said its overall same-store sales narrowed by 3%, which was "expected," said Yum! Brands CEO David Gibbs in the company’s press release Wednesday. CFO Chris Turner told analysts and investors who tuned into the earnings call that Yum! Brands had expected the first quarter...

For more than a decade, it’s been obvious that voters won’t support any proposal to give NFL owners taxpayer money for stadium construction or renovation. It’s becoming more clear that the elected officials are becoming less inclined to burn political capital by giving public funds to privately-owned football teams. That could be where the puck is moving. No more free cash for multi-billionaires. Currently, the Bears, Chiefs, Bengals, and Browns are facing resistance in their local markets. The Jaguars supposedly will have a public-private deal for a massive renovation to EverBank Stadium soon; until it’s done, however, it’s not. There’s...

(Epic Economist)—Over the past four years, many of us have had the unpleasant surprise of learning that our go-to restaurant, coffee shop, or fast food joint was closing doors for good. Thousands of well-established companies have gone out of business since the pandemic accelerated the descent of the U.S. economy, and conditions have been particularly tough in the restaurant industry. Even during the best of times, managing a restaurant comes with plenty of uncertainty. Though a brand can be incredibly popular amongst consumers, there’s a variety of factors that can result in mass closings, and in some cases, bankruptcy. We...

Hiding in plain site is the singular person who could do more for the Trump candidacy, for the Republican ticket, for the party as such, and for the country, than any other. His name is Dr. Ben Carson. The obvious question is: Why is everyone missing this? Carson, without question, is a world-renowned surgeon and first-class mind. He is a gentle soul who served loyally as a cabinet secretary in the first Trump term—one of the few persons to do so for the full duration. Less we forget, he was also the dedicated vice chairman of Trump’s transition team. As...

Baby boomers are refusing to downsize in their golden years, according to a Redfin study, which found that the generation born between 1946 and 1964 owns nearly three in 10 (28.2 percent) large homes in the nation—nearly twice as many as millennial households with kids (14 percent). This is happening despite boomers' kids having long left the nest and their households having shrunk to one or two people. Instead of selling their large properties and moving to a smaller place, boomers are turning the extra bedrooms into hobby rooms and guest rooms for visiting family members. Read more: What Is...

Two police officers were shot and wounded Thursday in the Saint Teresa neighborhood of San Jose, California. The East Bay Times reported that the incident occurred around 10:30 p.m. Officers were responding to a disturbance call at an Extended Stay America in “the 6100 block of San Ignacio Avenue” when the shots were fired and the two officers wounded. he officers had just made contact with the suspect in the disturbance call when he opened fire. NBC Bay Area noted that one of the wounded officers is in critical condition. The suspect was hit by return fire and is also...

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs has signed the bill to repeal Arizona’s abortion ban, making it so babies will continue being aborted in the southwestern state. In a gleeful message, Hobbs celebrated her own signing of the bill. “With the stroke of my pen, the 1864 abortion ban is about to OFFICIALLY become a thing of the past,” she wrote on X (Twitter). However, under the state Constitution, any law repeal doesn’t take effect until 90 days after the legislative session ends, and the end date can vary. For example, if this session ends in late July like last year, the...